eflecting on Vacation Time from A Spiritual, Social Justice Perspective.  Also, find a prayer service for June 20th, World Refugee Day

HOW DO YOU “VACATION” ? 

Reflect on the following quotes and discuss, in small groups, the questions that follow:

From Pope John Paul II: “Rest is an aid to help humans recognize their calling to cooperate in the Lord’s work and to receive God’s grace. In honoring God’s call to rest, humans fully discover themselves and are endowed with a kind of ‘fruitfulness,’ which deepens in men and women the joy of living and the desire to foster and communicate life.”

· What are the messages from contemporary culture about vacations?

· How do these messages affect my sense of what vacation time should be?

· How can my plans for summer rest and vacation help deepen my joy of living and open me to God’s grace?

From Thomas Merton, The Hidden Ground of Love: “The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of innate violence.”

· How can the rush of modern life separate us from our Ground of Being and from others?

· Think about the rush and pressures of your life and discuss how you can begin to eliminate some of them during the summer months and vacation time.

From Anne Heillman, “Prayer for Creation”: “Notice and honor the radiance of everything about you . . . play in this universe. Tend all these shining things around you.”

· How can you use summer and vacation time to be more attentive to, and appreciative of, God’s Creation?

· How can you become more respectful of the Earth during this time?

From Donna Schaper, Sabbath Sense: “We have lost a sense of Enough . . . we are always looking over our shoulder to find ‘something’ better . . . When we are no longer insatiably bent on The Next Thing, we are much less likely to be enslaved and cherish being over doing and having.”

· How can the consumer culture keep us always looking for the next “thing we need to be happy?”

· How can we take a break from the consumer culture during the summer and in our vacation time?

· How can we put more emphasis on “being” rather than “having” during our “Sabbath” and vacation time?

From Thomas Moore, Care of The Soul: “The soul needs an intense, full-bodied spiritual life as much as, and in the same way, the body needs healthy food.”

· How can you use the summer and vacation time to be open and nurture a more intense spiritual life?

· How can you also deepen your understanding about the importance of eating and sharing healthy food, reflecting on the image of all being called to the table of God’s abundance?

 

SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS... ABOUT YOUR REFLECTIONS,
and what are some new ways you might choose to “vacation” differently this year…